Podcasting Patent Troll

I just did a local radio interview about a company called Personal Audio that is claiming that it owns the patent on “podcasting” and is sending lots media outlets letters threatening an infringement lawsuit unless they receive royalties. The patent covers an “[a]pparatus for disseminating a series of episodes represented by media files via the Internet as said episodes become available.”

It strikes me that shining some sunlight on these opportunistic licensing practices is sometimes the best remedy.